To My Beloved Father

O Father, I miss you, Dearest Dad, I miss your smile, Your hugs and gentle loving touch,
My Beloved Father, I feel your heart, I want you to know,
That I don’t have one, Not one single memory, Of a bad day with you,
Through it all, You always had and still have, An unconditional love for me,
A loving touch, A loving smile, Loving eyes, A loving silence,
You stood up for me, You honored me, You always put me first,
You made tremendous sacrifices, And dramatic changes in your life,
To protect me and raise me well, You wanted me educated,
Even though you did not write or read,
I still remember my first day of school, How dedicated and excited you were,
The black and white Street photographer session, by the Spanish Consulate in Casablanca,
When you put me on your bicycle seat, And rode standing up all the way to school,
In our travels to go back visit the Berber village where you were born in the south,
You put me first and would hold me, my head on your lap all the way,
You hold my hand tight and walked me into places that most think girls are not allowed in,
You made sure I was fed, clean, educated and safe,
You cared less of what anybody else thought,
You never once told me, when I grow up I should get married and have kids,
You always said: “I want you to grow up and become an educated, wise and decent human being.”
When my life fell apart, and I lost my job, friends and almost lost my life,
You stood by me, supported me, and you were ready to fight for me, no matter what,
When Grandma died, and my sisters and I pilled up in my car to follow the procession,
Some overzealous family member who came for the funerals told my sisters and I that we should not go, Women should not be part of the procession,
You stepped in and told him where to go,
Dearest Dad, I have a tremendous respect for you because no matter how young I was,
You always respected me, You always treated me with respect and dignity,
You took care of me when I was so vulnerable,
You love me with your heart, and always hold me inside you heart,
Amazing you Dad! You, who grow up as an orphan very early in age,
You lost your own father as you were in the womb and lost you mother right after she gave you birth,
With them gone so early, you lost every thing else, shelter, education and even food,
You grow up most of the times hungry, son of a Highly Educated Master yet not knowing how to read,
Yet, you are a Father Hero! You are my Hero! A Hero of a whole generation and era!
Today, living in a country leading the world, helping others sort out their lives,
I come to compare between your achievements and those of others,
Very few of them come close to your heart wisdom and enlightenment,
Dearest Dad I am grateful to you until the last breath I take and forever thereafter,
O Dad, my Beloved Father, You are the Best Dad in the world,
If I have to do it all over again, I will not change a thing about you!
Your loving daughter now, and an honored grateful soul for ever,
I know as I am sitting here crying and writing this you are thinking of me.

© Copyright 2004, Najat Fares Kessler, all rights reserved.